The George Herbert Jones Laboratory is at the northwest corner of the main quadrangle of the University of Chicago campus, between East 58th and 57th Streets. It is a four-story masonry structure, built in 1928-29 as facility and instructional space for the university's staff of research
chemists and graduate students in
chemistry. Room 405 is a relatively non-descript chamber on the fourth floor, measuring , with shelves and counters lining its walls. It is accessed via a wooden door with a glass window in its upper half. As part of the
U.S. War Department's Manhattan Project, University of Chicago chemists began to study the newly manufactured radioactive element,
plutonium. Room 405 was the site where, for the first time on August 18, 1942, a team led by physicist
Glenn Seaborg isolated a trace quantity of this new element. Measurements, performed on September 10, 1942, enabled chemists to determine the new element's
atomic weight. This important step was to change the world, making possible both
nuclear power and
nuclear weapons. Although room 405 looks nothing like the original condition, the lobby of the laboratory maintains a collection of the specialized equipment used to perform the measurements. Although the building's basement and ground floor were significantly damaged by an explosion in 1973, Room 405 was not affected. Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, The University of Chicago (7189830229).jpg|Room 405 File:Jones Laboratory Room 405 Plaque.jpg|National Historic Landmark Dedication Plaque Robert M. Hutchens and George Herbert Jones posing with bust of Jones during December 1929 dedication of the University of Chicago's George Herbert Jones Laboratory.jpg|University President
Robert Maynard Hutchins (left) and namesake donor
George Herbert Jones (right) pose with a bust of Jones during the dedication of the building in December 1929 ==References==